Trends Among Spanish Consumers in 2018

2018 was a passionate and surprising year, where we observed how the challenge among brands for relevance in society was once again reshaped in search of new solutions.

After more than 160 studies, 150,000 interviews, 200 focus groups or 600 in-depth interviews, 2018 provided us with the following learnings and opportunities for 2019:

1. The breach of consensus. If there was ever a recent time where it seemed like there was a certain consensus in terms of values, 2018 did away with that perception. Territorial issues, immigration and particularly gender equality are hotly debated. And brands are in the midst of this: how are they to position themselves during this breach of consensus and identity polarization?

2. The paradox of regulation. 2018 was a year where regulatory framework and consumer dynamics stood face to face. In the midst of consumer demands and desires, along with proposals put forth by organizations, a third element that shapes the scenario emerges: the public sector, with its own dynamic. Being customer-centric means believing in benefitting society when there’s social conflict and where the public sector has to intervene.

Within a context of accelerated innovation and a permanent breach of social consensus, we see the emergence of business models built on their own value propositions within the regulatory framework.

Felipe Romero, CEO of The Cocktail Analysis.

3. Open mobility. Without a doubt, 2018 revolutionized the world of mobility. We’re moving towards a mobile experience, in large cities, more flexible and open, where consumers seek intermodal solutions that provide experiences different from those of the city.

4. I don’t want to be a customer. The term “customer” is outdated: the consumer demands and builds new relationship models for products and brands; more open, less strict, more horizontal, where it’s easy to come and go.

5. Plastic brands. Everything that has to do with plastic has negative connotations. Eliminating it from a brand in tangible terms doesn’t only imply greater awareness and commitment to the environment, but it also distances it from the intangible world of the characteristics that surround it: artificiality, dullness, making it difficult to appeal to the senses, etc.

6. Reshaping aspiration. Younger generations flee from stereotypes and aspire to create their own unique identity.

Indeed, the key to success among Generation Z is that which makes you different: quirks and peculiarities.

María Herranz, Qualitative Manager at The Cocktail Analysis.

7. Awakening digital awareness. The consumer maintains a relationship with products and services that’s very anchored in gadgets from an analogue perspective: both in form and in function. 2019 is the digital dawn. New forms of interaction emerging from the market are going to speed up digital awareness.

8. The market of user data: the pressure of the transaction. Users are at the center of this learning process when it comes to how the various players that they interact with use their data, and they’re still unclear as to how this relationship model works. Users feel that they’re not simply providing their data, but much more than that: they’re providing access to themselves and their privacy.

9. The influence of intelligence: machine impact. This encompasses influencing consumers’ resulting conduct by combining behavioral information + emotional information + behavioral based design (behavioral technology). This is the key to unlocking any brand’s fantasy: being where needs originate as opposed to satisfying them.

Opportunities

For brands, a series of opportunities arises from these learnings:

1. Commitment is dead. The consumer has learned how to live with low levels of commitment, and therefore relationship and service spaces need to be built for these new types of “customers” whose needs are more fleeting and whose relationships with brands are occasional and constrained.

2. When acquiring a brand, models aren’t purchased, tools are. In every brand trait, in its content and in its influencers, consumers need to find a tool and inspiration for building their own identity.

3. Without consensus, where do I fit in? Nowadays, values are very polarizing, which means that speaking out in favor of an idea/feeling leads to haters; however, courage is differentiating and it’s rewarded.

4. Decisions are no longer only made in the boardrooms. They need to be aligned with the value propositions of social opinion waves, realizing that being customer-centric is an advantage when social conflict strikes and we find ourselves subject to the scrutiny of regulation.

5. Always, always: the subjective sense of control. The relationship must provide the customer with the subjective sense of choice and control.

6. The algorithm: between fear and fantasy. Seeking out and being present in private space where need can give rise to behavior.

7. It’s no longer mobile phone first, it’s cognitive first. Consumers will enter into a “new digital awareness” where the design of products and services won’t be tied to the device.

8. Managing privacy as a differentiating brand attribute. Consumers take for granted that they have to give up their privacy, but what if brands built the service from exactly the opposite perspective?

9.The human challenge. The real challenge of organizations doesn’t reside in technology or in processes, culture or data, but rather in being relevant to the consumer. Understanding the consumer in order to be relevant.